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Michigan Has No Government

MajinMetroidMajinMetroid
edited October 2007 in Everything Else
I don't know how many of you live in Michigan but today the government officially shut down.

Yeah, I don't know how often this happens in other states but it's the first time I've ever heard of anything like this. When I was first told it was going to happen I thought it was a joke.

Apparently the powers that be can't decide on a budget so every thing's just shutting down. Has this ever happened in anyone else's state? Ever hear of this happening? Is there going to be riots? I mean, what the hell?!

Comments

  • xenomousexenomouse
    I think PA did that recently, and I know the federal government does that once in a while. It's not as bad as it sounds. Basically, all non-essential services pause while the state legislature gets its act together.
  • VigaViga
    I saw this on Digg and thought it might be a hoax until I read further. What type of events cause these things?

    To tell the truth, I expect riots.
  • xenomousexenomouse
    All the times I've heard of a government shutdown is from budget disputes. Like I said, it's not a big deal.
  • AprecheApreche
    It happened in NJ awhile ago.
  • ......
    How does such a thing affect the civilian? No taxes? No cops?
  • RymRym
    How does such a thing affect the civilian? No taxes? No cops?
    Much like foreign wars of occupation, this has practically zero effect on the average citizen. ^_~
  • AprecheApreche

    Much like foreign wars of occupation, this has practically zero effect on the average citizen. ^_~

    No, it actually does have an effect on the average citizen. Your DMV is probably closed. Court dates and such might be delayed, if they close the courts. Anyone who works for the state other than police, firemen, etc, gets to stay home. For the most part average citizens aren't affected, just so long as you don't have any state business to conduct.
  • AlexAlex
    This sort of thing happens every few years in PA and NJ: it doesn't typically last more than a couple weeks, and is a sort of additional spur to the legislature to get the budget hammered out. If you're employed by the state, you're neither working nor getting paid; if you have to conduct state business or planned to visit a state park, you're out of luck.

    Riots? I wouldn't hold your breath.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    This is also referred to as free vacation time for government employees. No work but you will still get paid for the time :)
  • KieyKiey
    It tends to last in Jersey just about until they have to take the Gaming Commission people out of the Casinos, and then they balance the budget.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    That's because the Gaming Commission is an agency that brings money into the state coffers.
  • RymRym
    For the most part average citizens aren't affected, just so long as you don't have any state business to conduct.Well, I guess it depends on the state.  A lot of the business most people would have, at least where I grew up, could be conducted through the county or city government, which was largely functional independent of the state.  The only things that hit you were driver's license issues (bad) and, if you had pending litigation, delays (bad OR good, depending ^_~).
    The parks all "closed," but that just meant you didn't have to pay to park your car, and no one would come to kick you out at night.  The police and fire departments just kept working, since they knew the back pay would come as soon as things were straightened out.
    For the most part, people just keep living their lives.  No one thinks for a second that the government won't come back online eventually, so they just keep doing what they're doing.  It really hurts the nonessential state employees, but the major services continue to operate.  The indifference does say a lot about the general confidence US citizens have in their government's continuance.
     
  • ......
    Hmmm. Interesting to know. Thanks for the infos.
  • clxclx
    Unfortunately I don't know much about this so I may be wrong here, but wasn't there a news story on this somewhere saying they spend $250,000 to tell people they were having problems with the budget ?
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    It is a common joke in local government that the cost of voting on budgetary issues by the general populace can add 50% to the cost just by adding in the cost of having the polls open.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    I wonder if there will ever come a time when the government here ever disagrees with the queen enough to try and declare ourselves a republic.(I'm in the UK FYI)
  • RymRym
    I wonder if there will ever come a time when the government here ever disagrees with the queen enough to try and declare ourselves a republic.
    I'm sure that will be right after they re-assert imperial authority over the colonies. ^_~
  • AndrewAndrew
    I wonder if there will ever come a time when the government here ever disagrees with the queen enough to try and declare ourselves a republic.(I'm in the UK FYI)
    Doesn't the queen have little to no power? I always thought that she was just a figurehead.
  • xenomousexenomouse
    She approves the prime minister. However, I think Parliament has the ability to dissolve the monarchy, so if she didn't approve of a prime minister, it would not fair well for her.
  • KilarneyKilarney
    This is also referred to as free vacation time for government employees.
    Tell that to the people not getting paid. I'm sure many would rather be working.
  • xenomousexenomouse
    Tell that to the people not getting paid. I'm sure many would rather be working.Quite often, back pay for employees during the shutdown period is part of the budget negotiations.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    edited October 2007
    Tell that to the people not getting paid. I'm sure many would rather be working.
    Quite often, back pay for employees during the shutdown period is part of the budget negotiations.
    Yes indeed. Those workers WILL be paid. No one is going to punish the workers for something that is not their fault. Besides, they are union employees, they WILL be paid!
    Post edited by HMTKSteve on
  • trogdor9trogdor9
    Yeah, the government shutdown ended four hours after it began, so there was effectively no shutdown.  I doubt anyone wanted to buy booze, cigarettes, or pay a visit to your local DMV before 4 AM.
  • RymRym
    I doubt anyone wanted to buy booze, cigarettes, or pay a visit to your local DMV before 4 AM.You can buy booze and cigarettes anywhere in Michigan: the state operating or not has nothing to do with it.
    Also, there's no such thing as a DMV in Michigan.  The Secretary of State handles all of that.
     
    The more you know =P
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